Prince Philip has been admitted to hospital as a precautionary measure for treatment of an infection, Buckingham Palace says.

The 95-year-old was supposed to be accompanying the Queen to the State Opening of parliament today but his place has been taken by Prince Charles.

The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London last night, as a precautionary measure, for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Prince Philip is in good spirits and is disappointed to be missing the State Opening of Parliament and Royal Ascot.

The Prince of Wales will accompany the Queen to the State Opening.

Her Majesty is being kept informed and will attend Royal Ascot as planned this afternoon.

Earlier this year the palace announced that Prince Philip would be retiring from royal duties, a decision he made himself with the full support of the queen.

Philip has suffered from heart disease and other ailments in recent years but has nonetheless maintained a vigorous public schedule.

The queen, who turned 91 last month, will keep carrying out royal engagements with the support of the royal family.

She has, however, lowered her workload in recent years as her children and grandchildren have moved to the fore.

Psychos drink black coffee, study finds

Apparently you re a psychopath if you like black coffee.

A new study from the University of Innsbruck found those who liked bitter tastes also showed signs of having anti-social personality traits.

Researchers conducted two studies with more than 1000 adults. Participants were asked to write down food and flavour preferences and undertake a personality test that examined anti-social behaviours like narcissim, psychopathy and sadism.

Turns out those who liked bitter flavours, like black coffee, showed stronger signs of having those anti-social personality traits than somebody who didn t like bitter flavours.

It s not just black coffee drinkers you need to watch out for either. The research found people who liked radishes, celery and tonic water also showed signs of anti-social personality traits.

Amelia Earhart mystery could be solved

The unsolved mystery of Amelia Earhart s sudden disappearance during a round-the-world flight in 1937 may finally be solved by a group of bone-sniffing dogs.

A pack of four border collies has been enlisted to search Nikumaroro, part of the Phoenix Islands and where researchers with the International Group for Historic Aircraft

Recovery believe Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan may have landed, according to the National Geographic.

Members of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), along with their dogs Berkeley, Piper, Marcy and Kayle, will set sail for the uninhabited island located north of Fiji on June 24.

The researchers believe Earhart and Noonan wound up on Nikumaroro, then called Gardner Island, when they couldn t find their destination of Howland Island.

If you don t know where you are, that s the logical direction to head, said TIGHAR Executive Director Ric Gillespie.

TIGHAR S Senior Archaeologist Tom King called the expedition less of a shot in the dark than any expedition we ve had and that s because in 1940, when the island was temporarily colonised, 13 bones were discovered, shipped to Fiji but then lost.

TIGHAR researchers now believe they know where those bones were found and that their team of human remain sniffing dogs could help find more.

No other technology is more sophisticated than the dogs, said Fred Hiebert, archaeologist in residence at the National Geographic Society, which is sponsoring the canines.

They have a higher rate of success identifying things than ground-penetrating radar.

Bone-sniffing canines have searched burial sites as deep as nine feet and as old as 1,500 years.

The four dogs could have a hard time carrying out their sniffing duties on the hot island but could get a boost from coconut crabs there which may have human bones stashed away.

The crabs are our friends, said Hiebert.

If bones are found, they ll be shipped back to the US for DNA analysis. Earhart still has a living relative but Noonan does not.

If the dogs don t find anything, we ll have to think about what that means, said Hiebert.

But if the dogs are successful, it will be the discovery of a lifetime.